So far I got an apology for "upsetting" me. No word on whether they'll charge me for the part. They may waive the ranger mileage fee. The Roadster should be heading back Monday. They researched a few inverters for me and none were noise-free enough for them to recommend. That's interesting, right? I asked them to find me one that they can approve.
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JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Frankly I think a decent AC inverter should be built into an EV, certainly EV's at the level of Tesla's products. Instead of bothering with 12VDC to 120VAC they could be pack voltage to 120VAC. I can buy one for my car for around $450, obviously Tesla could build one in for much less.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Escalated. It's good to see a little common sense applied. I'm feeling optimistic that they'll do the right thing.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
If it has a 110vac outlet on it, it's an inverter and could cause problems. Ask tesla is my advice.
That must be it since the laptop runs on a normal wall socket power supply normally. I won't exactly say it's a show stopper if the Model S socket can't handle this, but we've become awfully spoiled by having the kids able to plug in their laptop while we drive. Given the Model S would be our family car, that's not an insignificant feature.
Hopefully the Model S 12V inverter with be (a) more robust, (b) not tied so directly into other systems, and most importantly (c) heavily filtered.
You know, I'd buy an inverter from Tesla for my Roadster if they'd make one, and although they'd have to charge a premium, perhaps 3-5 times as much as a typical true sine-wave inverter, it'd be worth it knowing I could safely take off from a charge site in the morning. I live to drive my Roadster. I just need a little more AC while I'm on the longer hauls.
Something that may be related...
On the End to End trip I plugged my phone (a Samsung Galaxy S) into the car. I saw weird stuff like at one point it thought it was plugged into a PC and activated USB transfer mode. It also affected signal reception severely, even when unplugged afterwards. It only seemed to recover after I upgraded to Android 2.3!
Whatever is going on in there, it must be a very noisy 12V line and I'd suggest that the filtering isn't adequate in either direction.
On the End to End trip I plugged my phone (a Samsung Galaxy S) into the car. I saw weird stuff like at one point it thought it was plugged into a PC and activated USB transfer mode. It also affected signal reception severely, even when unplugged afterwards. It only seemed to recover after I upgraded to Android 2.3!
Whatever is going on in there, it must be a very noisy 12V line and I'd suggest that the filtering isn't adequate in either direction.
W.Petefish
Active Member
Noisy is understatement of the year. Just listen to the AM band of the radio. You can hear the PWM of the motor through the stereo.
My suggestion: put a line noise filter on the line coming out of the DC-DC converter that is in the battery, and put a second one before the radio and a third before the 12v socket.
My suggestion: put a line noise filter on the line coming out of the DC-DC converter that is in the battery, and put a second one before the radio and a third before the 12v socket.
And use a filter that has significant iron (ferrite) in it, not some cheapo surge protector that won't do anything.
You could buy iPads for your kids. I'm sure they would be OK with that solution! And, you still get your Model S.
GSP
I have found that my 12V accessory socket stays hot now. When the key was pulled, my Magellan GPS used to go to battery after five min and later it would die, even when plugged in. Now I leave the car all day in a parking lot 10+ hours and the GPS is still on. Maybe a firmware changed along the way this in my 1.5
[Scott]
"Sounds like the battery is fully charges and/or the battery is above 30C"
Tried a test. My 1.5 Roadster (no 12V battery onboard) is supplying power to my 12V cigarette lighter socket with the car off and key removed. The plug-in GPS internal battery only lasts 10 minutes.
I shut off the car, removed the key, unplugged the GPS. and put it in it's battery mode. Waited 10 minutes and watched it die. Then plugged it in the still-off car and it lit up. The car was still 12V hot beyond the old 5 minute time. As I said above the GPS will be plugged in and on after a full day without the car plugged in.
Temp was about 88 degrees outside.
tomsax
Member
As much as I think Tesla should be held accountable for how they treat each and every one of their customers, I agree with JPR3 that it would be prudent to hold off publishing your communications with Tesla until this is resolved. As gratifying as it would be to show the world what you're going through, and I'm very interested to see the email, it's unlikely to help resolve your problem.
If you decide you need a lawyer, I can recommend one. He was a big help; we probably wouldn't have our Roadster without him. Let's just say I have some very interesting emails from Tesla during that particular interaction.
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